St. Louis -- - At least folks in the Midwest know that Tim Hudson is not taking sides in the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry. In successive starts, at home last week and at Busch Stadium on Sunday, he blanked both for seven innings.

Hudson lowered his ERA to 1.75 and allowed three hits to beat the team whose manager, Mike Matheny, will choose the final National League All-Stars and determine who will pitch July 15 in Minneapolis.

Hudson routinely demonstrates his experience and did so Sunday when he retired 13 of his final 14 hitters after a moment that could rattle a lesser pitcher. He hit Allen Craig in the helmet with a third-inning fastball, creating a thunk that was audible throughout the ballpark.

Hudson immediately walked toward Craig to apologize and did so again after getting Oscar Taveras to ground out and strand three runners.

"He's a tough son of a gun," Hudson said. "It got him really good, and it scared the crap out of me."

Hudson batted with a 4-0 lead before he threw a pitch. A good first inning that started with successive singles by Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence and Buster Posey became a great first inning after second baseman Kolten Wong muffed a hard Gregor Blanco grounder that could have been an inning-ending double play.

Instead, Brandon Crawford got a run home with a groundball before Joaquin Arias walked to the plate with two RBIs on the season and doubled his total with a single through the middle.

Arias stepped in for Michael Morse (bruised foot) and went 3-for-4 with a walk, his best game by far. Blanco moved into Morse's fifth spot in the lineup and hit an RBI triple.

"That's how we roll," Pagan said. "We're here to pick each other up. No matter what the move is, we're all ready to play if something happens."

Monday

Off

Tuesday

at Reds

4:10 p.m. CSNBA

Lincecum (4-3) vs. Bailey (5-3)

Wednesday

at Reds

4:10 p.m. CSNBA

Vogelsong (3-2) vs. Cingrani (2-5)

Wet bird: Don't get your car washed on days Michael Wacha starts for the Cardinals. Five of his starts in 2014 have experienced rain delays totaling 6 hours, 30 minutes, including two for 98 minutes on Saturday.